Learn With Nirab

If you are a Google Chrome user who loves to play with the browser's settings, then till now you must have noticed that Chrome browser allows you to configure the Brower ( via a option called "Click to play" ) to load the plug-ins only when clicked. But if you are a Firefox user and want to get similar functionality in your Firefox then you will be happy to know that the latest version of Firefox ( Firefox 14.0.1 ) allows you to Configure the browser To Load Plug-Ins Only When Clicked. But there is no direct option to activate the feature and we have to take help of the good old about:config method.

By enabling this "Click to Play" feature you can provide additional security and stability to your system. By default almost all the browsers are rock solid and comes with some very good security features, but those 3rd party plugins can cause problems with security and stability, especially if you have a lot of them. But at the same time it is also fact that you can't live without those plugins because those plugins provide some very essential functionality to your browser. For example we are still very much dependent on the "Flash Plugin" but unfortunately it is also one of the most unstable browser plugin. But the good news is that not all the websites are dependent on these plugins. And that's why "Click to Play" function is a very nice concept.

let's understand the "Click to Play" function with the help of a very easy to understand example. We all know that to watch video on YouTube or on Hulu you need to have Flash Plugin but to browse a site like this ( LearnWithNirab ) you don't need to have Flash Installed on your system. So the concept is , why not make a certain plugin available to a website only when you need it. "Click to Play" function does the exact same thing. You can manually load a plugin, when there is a need of that particular plugin.

In Firefox 14, you can now configure plug-ins to load only when clicked. The process is not very complicated and you can easily enable this feature. Just follow the following steps.

Step 1 = In the address bar, type "about:config." When you get the warning prompt, click the "I'll be careful, I promise" button.

Step 2 = Search for the "plugins.click_to_play" preference, then double-click on the entry so the value reads "true."

That's it. It is as simple as that. Now whenever you will visit a site where there is a need for a particular plugin then you'll see a plug-in block icon in the address bar. Click on the plug-in block icon, then click the "Activate plugins" button to allow them to run on the site during your visit. If you want to allow plug-ins to load on every subsequent visit, click the drop-down menu and choose "Always activate plugins for this site." If you want to permanently disable plug-ins on the site, select "Never activate plugins for this site" instead.